Submit report handling in SMSIP

ABSTRACT

Submit report handling in Short Message Session Initiation Protocol (SMSIP) is provided. For example, a method can include preparing a submit report, wherein the preparing includes using a combination of forking and an in-reply-to header to find an appropriate terminal. The method can also include sending the submit report to the appropriate terminal. Likewise, another method can include receiving, by an apparatus, a session initiation protocol message request including a submit report. The method can also include processing the submit report to determine whether the request corresponds to a message sent by the apparatus. The method can further include sending, when the submit report is determined not to correspond to any message sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiation protocol response. The method can additionally include sending, when the submit report is determined to correspond to the message sent by the apparatus, an ok session initiation protocol message.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/524,533, entitled “SUBMIT REPORT HANDLING IN SMSIP,” filed Dec. 9,2009, which is a National Stage Entry of PCT Application No.PCT/IB08/00181, filed Jan. 28, 2008, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/897,819, filedon Jan. 29, 2007. The subject matter of all of these applications ishereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to telecommunications. Forexample, the present invention can relate to Internet Protocol (IP)networks. In certain embodiments, the present invention specificallyrelates to Short Message Service (SMS) signaling over IP networks andSMS termination in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), as well as SMS moregenerally.

2. Description of the Related Art

In conventional SMS termination in IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)applications, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is used for initiatingand controlling service requests. The conventional art does not providea way to ensure that a submit report is targeted to the terminal that issubmitting the short message.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention is a method. The method includespreparing a submit report, wherein preparing the submit report includesusing a combination of forking and an in-reply-to header to find anappropriate device. The method also includes sending the submit reportto the appropriate device.

Another embodiment of the present invention is also a method. The methodincludes receiving, by an apparatus, a session initiation protocolmessage request including a submit report. The method also includesprocessing the submit report to determine whether the requestcorresponds to a message sent by the apparatus. The method furtherincludes sending, when the submit report is determined not to correspondto any message sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here sessioninitiation protocol response, and sending, when the submit report isdetermined to correspond to the message sent by the apparatus, an oksession initiation protocol message.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus. Theapparatus includes processing means for preparing a submit report,wherein preparing the submit report includes using a combination offorking and an in-reply-to header to find an appropriate device. Theapparatus further includes transmitting means for sending the submitreport to the appropriate device.

A further embodiment of the present invention is also an apparatus. Theapparatus includes receiving means for receiving a session initiationprotocol message request including a submit report. The apparatus alsoincludes processing means for processing the submit report to determinewhether the request corresponds to a message sent by the apparatus. Theapparatus further includes transmitting means for sending, when thesubmit report is determined not to correspond to any message sent by theapparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiation protocol response,and for sending, when the submit report is determined to correspond tothe message sent by the apparatus, an ok session initiation protocolmessage.

A further embodiment of the present invention is another apparatus. Theapparatus includes a processor configured to prepare a submit report,wherein preparing the submit report includes using a combination offorking and an in-reply-to header to find an appropriate device. Theapparatus also includes a transmitter configured to send the submitreport to the appropriate device.

An additional embodiment of the present invention is also an apparatus.The apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive a sessioninitiation protocol message request including a submit report. Theapparatus further includes a processor configured to process the submitreport to determine whether the request corresponds to a message sent bythe apparatus. The apparatus also includes a transmitter configured tosend, when the submit report is determined not to correspond to anymessage sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiationprotocol response, and to send, when the submit report is determined tocorrespond to the message sent by the apparatus, an ok sessioninitiation protocol message.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a computer programembodied on a computer-readable medium, and encoding instructions forperforming a method when executed in hardware. The method includespreparing a submit report, wherein preparing the submit report includesusing a combination of forking and an in-reply-to header to find anappropriate device. The method also includes sending the submit reportto the appropriate device.

A further embodiment of the present invention is also a computer programembodied on a computer-readable medium, and encoding instructions forperforming a method when executed in hardware. The method includesreceiving, by an apparatus, a session initiation protocol messagerequest including a submit report. The method also includes processingthe submit report to determine whether the request corresponds to amessage sent by the apparatus. The method further includes sending, whenthe submit report is determined not to correspond to any message sent bythe apparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiation protocolresponse, and sending, when the submit report is determined tocorrespond to the message sent by the apparatus, an ok sessioninitiation protocol message.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a method in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 2 depicts another example of a method in accordance with someexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 3 depicts an example of a system in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Communication can occur in wireless communication networks and systems,such as Third Generation Project (3GPP), wherein SMS messages are sentfrom one user terminal to another user terminal. SMS messages, or shortmessage service messages, are typically sent over networks operating ona communication protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP). The SMS can beterminated in the IP multimedia subsystems (IMS), and utilizes SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) for initiating and controlling servicerequest. The specifications of such SIP protocol details can be found,for example, in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 24.229. The contentsof this technical specification are hereby incorporated by reference.

The functionality of SMS over IP is defined in 3GPP TS 23.204 and24.341. The contents of these documents are hereby incorporated byreference in their respective entireties. General SMS functionality isdescribed, for example, in 3GPP TS 23.040 and TS 24.011, which are alsohereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.

In one example, two pieces of user equipment can share one IMS PublicUser Identity (IMPU), with all having SMSIP capability. When the userequipments (UEs) are registered to the IMS network, one user equipmentmay identify its priority as being higher than the other user equipmentin the registration procedure. When one of these two user equipmentssends an SMS message to a third piece of user equipment, it is possiblefor the Short Message Service Center (SM-SC) to send a submit report tothe sender. However, if sequential forking is being used, it is possiblethat the submit report may not properly directed to the sender. Theother piece of user equipment may erroneously receive a submit report ina case parallel forking is being used.

Likewise, whenever a short message is submitted from a terminal having ashared mobile subscriber integrated services digital network number(MSISDN), the submit report termination can (conventionally) beambiguous. Thus, conventionally, it can happen that a submit report goesto a terminal other than the one that submitted the short message.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, whenever aSIP MESSAGE request encapsulating SMS-submit-report is sent, theInternet Protocol-Short Message-Gateway (IP-SM-GW) can insert aRequest-Disposition header indicating either parallel or sequentialforking, and can insert an In-Reply-To header with thecall-identification (ID) or Reply-To header of the SIP MESSAGE requestthat encapsulated the submitted short message. The Serving-Call SessionControl Function (S-CSCF) can send the SIP MESSAGE request, includingthe submit report, toward the possible contacts, either to all contactsat once or sequentially. Any wrong attempts, such wrong attempts beingattempts to direct the submit report towards a user equipment that isnot submitting the short message, are rejected with, for example, a “486not acceptable here” response. A correct attempt will result in a “200OK” response.

The present invention can solve the targeting problem in that when theuser equipment submitting a short message does not receive the submitreport, the submit report is resent. Additionally, there is no need fora new SIP extension, since a unique user ID can not be a GloballyRoutable User Agent (UA) Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (GRUU) forSIP MESSAGE request.

The present invention, therefore, can use a combination of forking, thatis a Request-Disposition header inserted with a “fork” attribute, and anIn-Reply-To header, as a mechanism to find the user equipment thatsubmitted the short message. This can prevent the problem of theconventional art wherein a submit report can be sent to a terminal otherthan the terminal that submitted the short message.

In one embodiment, the invention can include a system for communicatingSMS messages, the system having a first unit that sends a short messageto a destination. The system can also include a second unit that insertsa header into the message, with a header including identificationinformation regarding the sender.

Upon receipt of the message by the destination, the destination can senda response message to the sender. The response message can be targetedfor receipt by the sender.

Certain embodiments of the present invention can also include a networkelement having a receiving unit for receiving an SMS message from asender. The element can have a header insertion unit for inserting aheader into the message, with the header including specificidentification information regarding the sender. A forwarding unit canforward the message to the destination. The network element is alsoconfigured to receive a response message from the destination, and toforward the response message to the sender.

A method according to an embodiment of the invention can include sendinga message from a sender to a destination, and inserting a header intothe message at a Gateway. The message can then include forwarding themessage to the destination, sending a response message from thedestination to the sender, and receiving the response message at thesender.

FIG. 1 illustrates a first method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the method includespreparing 110 a submit report. Preparing 110 the submit report includesusing a combination of forking and an in-reply-to header to find anappropriate terminal. The method also includes sending 120 the submitreport to the appropriate terminal.

The sending 120 the submit report to the appropriate terminal caninclude avoiding ambiguity that would otherwise result in the submitreport being terminated on a terminal other than the appropriateterminal. The appropriate terminal can have a shared mobile subscriberintegrated services digital network number. The appropriate terminal canbe a user equipment, personal digital assistant, portable communicationdevice, wireless terminal, wireless handheld device, personal computer,or a mobile station.

The forking can include inserting a fork attribute in arequest-disposition header. The preparing 110 the submit report can betriggered by receiving 105 a short message request submitted from theappropriate terminal.

FIG. 2 illustrates another method according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As depicted in FIG. 2, the method can includereceiving 210, by an apparatus, a session initiation protocol messagerequest including a submit report. The method can also includeprocessing 220 the submit report to determine whether the requestcorresponds to a message sent by the apparatus. The method can furtherinclude sending 232, when the submit report is determined not tocorrespond to any message sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-heresession initiation protocol response. The method can additionallyinclude sending 234, when the submit report is determined to correspondto the message sent by the apparatus, an ok session initiation protocolmessage.

The apparatus can be a user equipment, personal digital assistant,portable communication device, wireless terminal, wireless handhelddevice, personal computer, or a mobile station. The submit report can bereceived from and the not-acceptable-here or ok session initiationprotocol message can be sent to an internet protocol short messagegateway.

The method shown in FIG. 2 can also include, before the receiving 210the submit report, sending 202 the corresponding message as a sessioninitiation protocol message request, and storing 204 the callidentification of the corresponding message.

Additionally, the method of FIG. 2 can include determining 230 that (orwhether) the submit report corresponds to the corresponding message bycomparing a received call identification in the submit report with thecall identification previously stored.

The methods illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination thereof. For example, a computer program canbe embodied on a computer-readable medium, and can encode instructionsfor performing the methods of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 2 when executed inhardware.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The system includes a first apparatus 300 (which can be aninternet protocol short message gateway) and a second apparatus 400. Thefirst apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400 can include respectivereceivers 310, 410, processors 320, 420, transmitters 330, 430, andmemories 340, 440. The first apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400can be configured to provide various functions, as will be discussedbelow. From another perspective, the first apparatus 300 and the secondapparatus 400 can provide various functional configurations usinghardware 350, 450, software 360, 360 or a hybrid thereof.

The first apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400 can be connectedover a communication link 500, which may be a wireless link, a wirelinelink, or a combination of wireless and wireline. Intermediate elementsthat may relay signaling between the first apparatus 300 and the secondapparatus 400 are omitted for ease of illustration.

The first apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400, for hardware 350,450 can be provided with a general purpose computer, ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or similar equipment, which can, incertain embodiments, be used as the processor 320, 420. Likewise, thefirst apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400, can be equipped withnetwork communication equipment for communicating in a network, such asan Internet Protocol (IP) network and/or a 3GPP network. Othercommunication equipment, such as antennas, can be included. Furthermore,the first apparatus 300 and the second apparatus 400 can have, for theirmemory 340, 440, a hard drive, flash Random Access Memory (RAM), aElectronically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a removable diskmemory, or the like.

Thus, the first apparatus 300 can be configured to prepare a submitreport, wherein preparing the submit report includes using a combinationof forking and an in-reply-to header to find an appropriate terminal(such as second apparatus 400). The first apparatus 300 can also beconfigured to send the submit report to the appropriate terminal.

The sending the submit report to the appropriate terminal can includeavoiding ambiguity that would otherwise result in the submit reportbeing terminated on a terminal other than the appropriate terminal. Theforking can include inserting a fork attribute in a request-dispositionheader.

The appropriate terminal can have a shared mobile subscriber integratedservices digital network number, and can be a user equipment, personaldigital assistant, portable communication device, wireless terminal,wireless handheld device, personal computer, or a mobile station.

The first apparatus 300 can additionally be configured to receive ashort message request submitted from the appropriate terminal, and totrigger the preparation of the submit report upon receipt of the shortmessage request.

The second apparatus 400 can be configured to receive a sessioninitiation protocol message request comprising a submit report. Thesecond apparatus 400 can also be configured to process the submit reportto determine whether the request corresponds to a message sent by theapparatus. The second apparatus 400 can further be configured to send,when the submit report is determined not to correspond to any messagesent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiation protocolresponse, and to send, when the submit report is determined tocorrespond to the message sent by the apparatus, an ok sessioninitiation protocol message.

The second apparatus 400 can be a user equipment, personal digitalassistant, portable communication device, wireless terminal, wirelesshandheld device, personal computer, or a mobile station.

The submit report can be received from and the not-acceptable-here or oksession initiation protocol message can be sent to the first apparatus300, which can be an internet protocol short message gateway.

The second apparatus 400 can be configured to, before receiving thesubmit report, send the corresponding message as a session initiationprotocol message request, and to store the call identification of thecorresponding message.

Furthermore, the second apparatus 400 can be configured to determinethat the submit report corresponds to the corresponding message bycomparing a received call identification in the submit report with thecall identification previously stored.

One having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that theinvention as discussed above may be practiced with steps in a differentorder, and/or with hardware elements in configurations which aredifferent than those which are disclosed. Therefore, although theinvention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments, itwould be apparent to those of skill in the art that certainmodifications, variations, and alternative constructions would beapparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention.In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention, therefore,reference should be made to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor;and at least one memory including computer program code for one or moreprograms, the at least one processor, the at least one memory, and thecomputer program code configured to cause the apparatus to perform atleast the following: receive a session initiation protocol messagerequest comprising a submit report; process the submit report todetermine whether the request corresponds to a message sent by theapparatus; send, when the submit report is determined not to correspondto the message sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here sessioninitiation protocol response; and send, when the submit report isdetermined to correspond to the message sent by the apparatus, an oksession initiation protocol message.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the apparatus is a user equipment, personal digital assistant,portable communication device, wireless terminal, wireless handhelddevice, personal computer, or a mobile station.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the submit report is received from, and thenot-acceptable-here or ok session initiation protocol message is sentto, an internet protocol short message gateway.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the processing further comprises determining that thesubmit report corresponds to the message sent by the apparatus bycomparing a received call identification in the submit report with acall identification previously stored.
 5. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with instructions that when executed,perform at least the following: receiving, by an apparatus, a sessioninitiation protocol message request comprising a submit report;processing the submit report to determine whether the requestcorresponds to a message sent by the apparatus; sending, when the submitreport is determined not to correspond to a message sent by theapparatus, a not-acceptable-here session initiation protocol response;and sending, when the submit report is determined to correspond to themessage sent by the apparatus, an ok session initiation protocolmessage.
 6. A method comprising: receiving, at an apparatus, a sessioninitiation protocol message request comprising a submit report;processing, at the apparatus, the submit report to determine whether therequest corresponds to a message sent by the apparatus; sending, fromthe apparatus, when the submit report is determined not to correspond tothe message sent by the apparatus, a not-acceptable-here sessioninitiation protocol response; and sending, from the apparatus, when thesubmit report is determined to correspond to the message sent by theapparatus, an ok session initiation protocol message.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the submit report is received from, and thenot-acceptable-here or ok session initiation protocol message is sentto, an interne protocol short message gateway.
 8. The method of claim 6,wherein the processing further comprises determining that the submitreport corresponds to the message sent by the apparatus by comparing areceived call identification in the submit report with a callidentification previously stored.